The Dangerous World of the Atlantic Salmon

NASF’s latest depiction of the world of the Atlantic salmon shows the safe areas for salmon where the fish are protected by agreements with commercial fishermen. Unfortunately, there are also red spots on the map. These show the areas where mixed-stock fisheries continue to endanger wild salmon.

There is also a shaded area. This indicates the large segment of the ocean where industrial fishing takes place. These fisheries, operating principally in the North Sea and the NE Atlantic, harvest very large quantities of sand eels and capelin to be made into feed for fish farms and livestock. They also sometimes target mackerel and herring. Many fear these vessels remove much of the baby sand eel and capelin stocks on which juvenile salmon depend and that the fishery also results in a by-catch of adult and juvenile salmon.

Meanwhile, the salmon farming industry continues to spread its disease and sea lice to wild salmon stocks. Large-scale escapes of domesticated farm salmon bred for a life in captivity continue to threaten the genetic makeup of wild stocks that have evolved to make migrations that may take them thousands of miles.

In many regions of Norway, the west coast of Scotland and in Ireland and Canada the damage inflicted by the negative effects of salmon farms has ruined many wild salmon rivers. A destructive combination of commercial over-fishing and a huge fish farming industry riding roughshod over conservation efforts have made Norway the North Atlantic’s most dangerous place for wild salmon.

Both these industries enjoy the strong backing of the Norwegian government and sadly the Norwegians are able to spread the damaging effects of their fish farms around the globe. In Scotland, Norwegian operators use attractive ‘Scottish’ names to promote and market their products — but consumers should not be fooled. The juvenile stock is imported from Norway, there is a high number of foreign staff, the ownership of the farms is Norwegian and their financial operations depend on Norwegian and Ukrainian banks.

About the North Atlantic Salmon Fund

The North Atlantic Salmon Fund, NASF, is an international coalition of voluntary private sector conservation groups who have come together to restore stocks of wild Atlantic salmon to their historic abundance. – email: nasf@vortex.is – web: www.nasfworldwide.com